to not mind my in laws buying my 5yo dd a tablet for Xmas, but worrying she'll think it is shite cos she is used to my iPad?

[stopthebusiwanttogetoff]

Sorry - just that.

When did parents stop buying toys? Proper toys? Playhouses, dens, doll sets. :(

Time moves on! I wonder if people were banging on about the cup and ball when Lego and Playmobil came out

I do find all the hand wringing and sad face responses a tad ridiculous. As if children who have tablets live in a sterile tech filled universe, devoid of human contact, presumably dressed in tin foil, served by robots and living on the moon?

I have children who use tablets, they also play with dolls, read real books, dress up, make things with card and sticky tape and play board games. Amazingly tablets do not replace all other activities and interactions!!

I just de-lurked to say what an utter charmer old Dri2 sounds.

Not.

I don't know why there is all this faff about screen time. Once the kids have done what is needed to be done ( homework and have there tea) it's their free time. 2hours tv 2 hours playing with toys ect. this evening me and DD spent 1/2 hour playing ponies, DS played skylanders.

I would suggested perhaps a pre owned pad, groupon atm has a refurbished Samsung galaxy pad 3 for £119

My DDs have a cheap Android tablet and it's a pain. It doesn't have enough memory so it freezes mid-app, and you have to turn if off and on again. I keep meaning to go and get some more RAM but haven't got round to it yet.

Generally I find that Apple devices (and their evangelists) put my hackles up - particularly iPhones. But having recently used an iPad I did realise that at least it didn't have the freezing in mid-app problem.

So yes, fukkingup, your DD may well find that there is a difference - on the whole you get what you pay for, and although (imo) Apple devices are generally overpriced the iPad (ime) does seem to work better than a cheap Android.

We're buying our 9 year old and 7 year old a Hudl for Christmas. They read, play outside, play boardgamesboardgames, lego rah rah rah and are perfectly normal children. I have no issue with them having a gift they will enjoy and that will have the usual house restrictions. There are far too many self righteous arseholes on this thread.

Boardgamesboardgames are even better than board games by the way...

Be wary of the Tab 2's, we've had no end of issues with the DC's (yes, they both have one, they got them at age 6 and 10) and frankly when compared to my iPad they are like donkeys next to a racehorse. Very slow and seem to run out of charge quicker. The parental controls are also tighter on Apple IMO.
Ignore the sad faces and judgement. There is no problem in my eyes with children having access to the latest technology and even owning some of it at a young age. It can only help them in years to come when they are using the same technology in school.
YANBU, in your position I would ask them for something else and let her use the iPad for a while longer then look at an iPod. That way you can share the apps between the two.

Shove children in front of tablets. LOL.

I judge people who come out with crap like that more.

Newsflash. Children can use a tablet, and at the same time, still enjoy playing with dolls, dens, reading, and countless other more "acceptable" pastimes.

Seriously.

STOP IT.

In fact they can even make a den to play their tablets in...

I've seen a little girl offering her tablet to her doll. So cute.

Did the Doll say piss off thats no i pad?

Seems like the right thread to ask about parental controls on tablets. Ds is a positive dinosaur, having a Nexus at the ripe ole age of 11. What can I put on it to avoid any nasty stuff appearing?

Harold

I think she absolutely will be able to tell the difference and if she is used to an iPad and its apps then I don't think she would enjoy or choose anything over an iPad.

My 2 year old twins and 3 (going on 4) year old all have their own iPad mini's (shock horror) and they can tell the difference between them and something else. it's ridiculous to suggest that someone of 5 shouldn't be able to tell the difference!!

I think the £100 would be a waste.

Demented on my nexus 7 I've set up a separate account for my 8 year old and you can set it up as a restricted account. Then you go into settings - users in your (password protected) account and can chose what apps he can use on his. So you can completely disable inernet browsing by turning off google chrome for example. Then if he tries to use something you have disallowed he will have to come to you to input the password. I have also made all the browsers (chrome, dolphin) safe search enabled password protected which should make Internet browsing a bit less likely to throw up nasties.

That's all I've done so far as he doesn't have his own access, just uses mine and I have it with me during the day. But you can install special software on all your devices like net nanny etc which I will do at some point and most ISPs have some options you can set on your broadband router to prevent porn websites wtc loading on any device using your home wifi.

Thanks flatmum

Usualsuspect-monopoly IS the most boring game ever except when you play it on the x box